Eesha Williams's Blog, page 127
January 17, 2015
Franti at Pearl Street February 13
I love live music. I have seen dozens of bands perform live, including U2, and working class bands that perform only in the Valley. Highlights have been Fishbone at small night clubs in New York City in 1990; Natalie Merchant at a historic theater in Oakland, California; and Toots and the Maytals at a tiny bar in Long Island, NY.
The best concert I have seen was Michael Franti with his band Spearhead at the Iron Horse in Northampton in 2002.
Martin Luther King Day Rally in Springfield
In Springfield, a white man who makes about $20 million a year is trying to evict an African American woman from her modest home. On Martin Luther King Day, there will be a rally to protest the action by Chase Bank CEO James Dimon. Deb Graham is offering to buy her foreclosed home back from Chase at the home's current market value, rally organizers say. Chase is rejecting her offer.
The rally will be in front of Graham's home, 54 Warrenton Street, at 6 p.m. on January 19.
More information is a...
January 14, 2015
Franti at Pearl Street February 13
I love live music. I have seen dozens of bands perform live, including U2, and working class bands that perform only in the Valley. Highlights have been Fishbone at small night clubs in New York City in 1990; Natalie Merchant at a historic theater in Oakland, California; and Toots and the Maytals at a tiny bar in Long Island, NY.
The best concert I have seen was Michael Franti with his band Spearhead at the Iron Horse in Northampton in 2002.
January 10, 2015
Health Care Activists Arrested
On January 15 at the Vermont statehouse, 29 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. They were calling for universal health care. Ellen Schwartz lives in Brattleboro and is a member of the Vermont Workers Center, which organized the rally. She was one of the people who were arrested. “Health care is a human right,” she told the Valley Post.
Also arrested were Sheila Linton, Philip Strickland and Skyler Wind, all of whom live in Brattleboro.
Editorial: People Power Can Create Jobs
Vermont Yankee will lay off hundreds of high wage workers in the coming months. But reducing the workweek from 40 to 32 hours and subsidizing local apparel and shoe factories would create more jobs than the nuclear reactor ever did. Vermont Yankee is near Brattleboro, Greenfield, and Keene.
January 3, 2015
Vermont Yankee Closes
In a victory of people power over corporate power, the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor closed permanently on December 29. The facility is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire. It's owned by Entergy Corporation of Louisiana.
The closure came after years of protests by thousands of people in the Valley. Hundreds were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. Thousands attended marches and rallies, spoke out at public hearings, and went door-to-door to educate t...
January 1, 2015
Concert Review: John Sheldon Band with Samirah Evans
John Sheldon and his band played an outstanding concert with Samirah Evans on New Year's Eve at the Arts Block in downtown Greenfield. The venue appeared to be sold out, with at least 100 people dancing for hours.
Sheldon's band is called Blue Streak. They played original and cover songs; a highlight was “All Along the Watchtower” by Bob Dylan.
John Sheldon and his band with Samirah Evans performed at the Arts Block on New Year's Eve in 2013 and 2014.
National Public Radio called Sheldon “one...
December 27, 2014
Matisyahu Northampton Concert December 29
Tickets are $50 for Matisyahu's December 29 concert at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton. The concert will be acoustic. Globally, his song “King Without a Crown” was one of the most popular songs of the past decade.
A video of Matisyahu performing an acoustic song is at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPuU-iTIFoI
Pipeline Fight Is On
Dana Pinney has lived in southwest New Hampshire for all of his 63 years. “I'm blue collar,” he said. He is fighting a proposed fracked gas pipeline that would pass near Greenfield, Brattleboro, and Keene. “We should be investing in energy efficiency and solar, not gas,” Pinney said.
The pipeline would be built and owned by Kinder Morgan Corporation of Texas. It would carry gas that is mined using a process called “fracking,” which poisons drinking water.
